


Mudblood to Murder

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-18
Updated: 2008-12-08
Packaged: 2019-01-19 02:09:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12400944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: The day Severus Snape called Lily Evans a mudblood everything changed. This story follows Lily, James, Severus and all their friends from that moment in their fifth year of school to the fateful Halloween night in Godric's Hollow.





	1. The M Word

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

Lily Evans turned away from Severus Snape, her first and best friend in the magical world, and walked back through the portrait whole. She could feel the tears burning in her emerald green eyes but she would not cry, not here at least, not now. She was so focused on not crying until she got out of the common room and into her dormitory that she walked right into the person she least wanted to see, besides Sev, James Potter. She had loathed Potter since the moment she had first laid eyes on him, on the Hogwarts Express during her first voyage to Hogwarts. He and his equally obnoxious best friend, Sirius Black, had mercilessly picked on Sev, and Lily being the loyal best friend that she was had intensely disliked Potter and Black ever since.  
  
            “Whoa, watch it Evans.” James said as he placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, as Lily had lost her balance upon running into him. Lily attempted to shrug off his hand and proceed on her way to her nice, comfortable four poster bed, but James only tightened his grasp on her shoulder. Lily looked at James fully intending to give one of her infamous, angry, fiery stares but she was so startled by the look in James’s own eyes that she completely forgot to look angry. She hated that look. It was the look he had been giving her since the very first day of classes their first year. He always looked hungry when he looked at her. She was, however, used to that look and that was not what startled her. Mixed with the expected look of hunger was a look of genuine concern for her. “Are you alright, Evans?” Her eyes began to burn again and quickly averted them from Potter’s; she would not under any circumstances cry in front of Potter.  
  
            “I… I’m fine” and this time she yanked her arm away from his grasp and headed strait for the stairs leading up to her dormitory.  
  
            “Lily.” She turned around purely from the shock of hearing him say her name. It had always been Evans.  
  
            “I’m fine…James.” She turned and continued up the stairs to her dormitory and collapsed onto her four poster bed.  
  
   
  
            James Potter watched her retreating back all the way up the stairs until she turned the corner and was out of sight. He then turned to his group of 3 best friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and said, “Here that I’m James now.”  
  
            Sirius clapped him hard on the back in mock celebration and said in a sarcastic voice, “Congratulations Prongs, it’s only taken her five years to learn your name.”  
  
            “Shut it.” James replied.  
  
            “I think its wonderful James,” Peter said adoringly, earning him rolled eyes from all three boys.  
  
   
  
            Severus Snape marched away from the entrance to the Gryffindor common room and back towards his own common room in the dungeons. He was angry. Not at Lily but at himself. He had ruined his only true friendship. He had hurt the only girl he could ever love. He had with the use of one word forever broken his own heart.  
  
   
  
            Lily lay in bed for hours waiting for sleep to come, but it did not. She did not know why she should be surprised; she had seen the path Severus had chosen long before the previous afternoon. She had just chosen to ignore it. She couldn’t face the pain of thinking the sweet, shy boy she had grown up with was a death eater in training. She should have seen it from the beginning; When he first cursed Petunia, when he became friends with Mulciber, McNair and Malfoy, and his use of the word on everyone else of her parentage, and then finally on she herself.  
  
            She got out of bed angrily. There was no use lying here dwelling on things she could not change. If she could not sleep, she would at least distract herself by studying for her O.W.Ls in the common room. She quietly snuck down to the common room careful not to wake any of her sleeping roommates. She was happy to see that the common room was deserted and headed over to her favorite spot, one of the three chairs in front of the dwindling fire. It was then she realized she was not after all alone. There was one other person in the common room, James Potter.  
  
            “Trouble sleeping Potter?”  
  
            “Dreams of you keeping me awake, Evans” She rolled her eyes. Why did he have to be so infuriating?  She reached down and grabbed her history of magic book and began to review for her O.W.L.  
  
            “Stop it,” she said after several minutes had passed.  
  
            “Stop what?” he said in mock innocence.  
  
            “Stop looking at me.”  
  
            “Can’t help it, you’re too pretty.” She again rolled her eyes. She would not let him get to her. She had found the best policy when Potter got fresh with her was simply to ignore him. “I’m sorry.” She looked up from her book; James Potter never apologized for anything especially not for getting fresh with her.  
  
            “For what, Potter?”  James sat quietly for a moment as if he were weighing every word with importance, as if unsure how to continue.  
  
            “I’m sorry that I… that I …I’m sorry about yesterday”.  
  
            “Since when do you apologize for being an arrogant toerag?”  
  
            “Not for that, for what he said.”  
  
            “That’s not your sin to apologize for, James.”  
  
            “I just hated seeing you hurt. No one should talk to you like that.” She was now thoroughly uncomfortable not just by his words but he was giving her that look again. It occurred to her now that she had never been completely alone with Potter before.  
  
            “You’re blushing, Evans”  
  
            “You’re…You’re… I am not.” She rose and returned to her bed, but she still did not sleep. For the second time that day she found herself thinking of James Potter and of the way those brown eyes made her feel when he looked at her.  
  
   
  
            Snape was fuming. He would kill him. No, that would be too quick. He would torture him as he had tortured Snape, and then he would kill him. Potter he was nothing more than an arrogant, strutting, prince.  
  
            It had all started after the History of Magic O.W.L. He had gotten up his courage to go talk to Lily at lunch. He would make her see reason. He would make her see that he loved her, that she was the only one. He waited for her outside the Great Hall his heart pounding in his chest. Then there she was. She gave him a look that could turn anyone’s blood to ice, but he had to try.  
  
            “Lily, please listen to me. I’m sorry, sorrier than you can imagine. I didn’t mean it Lil, please.” She looked at him for what seemed to Severus like years. He could see the wheels in her head turning, thinking of how to respond. His heart was light with hope, hope of forgiveness. Then he ruined everything.  
  
            “Everything alright, Evans?” Potter had appeared out of nowhere.  
  
            “Fuck off, Potter.” Snape growled.  
  
            “Severus!” Snape backed away at the look of anger in her eyes. “I’m fine, Potter. I was just leaving to go back to the common room and study for runes”.  
  
            “I was heading that way myself, could I come with you?”  With that they headed off together for the common room, and Snape was left seething with rage.  
  
            How dare Potter, when he could have any girl in the entire school love him, and half of them did, the other half were to busy fawning over Potter’s equally as bad best friend, Black, how dare he lay eyes on Lily. His Lily, she was the only one who had ever cared about him. Severus knew with absolute certainty that was why Potter had chosen Lily. Potter did not really care about Lily; he only wanted to hurt Severus. He would not allow Lily to love Potter, she couldn’t. The pain would be too much to bear.  
  
   
  
            “Was the slimy git bothering you?” James asked as he and Lily entered the portrait whole.  
  
            “Don’t call him that.” Standing up for Sev was habit by now.  
  
            “How can you do that? How can you stand up for him after what he said about you?” It was the first time in 5 years Lily had ever seen James lose control. He was shaking with anger.  
  
            “He was my friend for a long time, I just don’t want to hear you talk bad about him.”  
  
            “I’ve never understood how you can be friends with someone like him.”  
  
            “Someone like him”, Lily’s eyes flashed with anger, always a danger sign.  
  
            “He’s a death eater wannabe! Surely, you can see that! Explain to me how someone as good as you are could ever be friends with him.”  
  
            “I don’t have to explain anything to you, Potter.” She turned on her heels and walked towards the dormitory, if Potter was incapable of leaving her alone and letting her study, then she would just have to go where he could not follow.  
  
            “Damn it Evans!  I’m sorry! I’m sorry that I cared.”  
  
             
  
             
  
            Two days later Lily sat on the Hogwarts Express thinking about her and Potter’s argument. She could not understand why it bothered her so much. She and Potter had fought hundreds of times, and never had it bothered her like this. How dare he try and act like he knew her. How dare he think he had the right to make judgments about the people in her life. How dare he think they were friends. Thinking of friends did not help her mood any. This was the first time she had not sat with Severus on the Hogwarts Express. She had many other friends in Gryffindor who had asked her to sit with them, but she had needed to be alone on this particular journey. She needed to feel the pain of the friendship she had lost.  
  
            “Evans?” She jumped as the sudden intrusion of Potter startled her from her thoughts.  
  
            “What, Potter?”  
  
            “I just…have a good summer Evans.”  
  
            “Oh, um you too, Potter. Was that all you wanted?”  
  
            “No, I wanted to…Go out with me Evans?”  
  
            “Oh, Potter I was really hoping we could break a record and go an entire week without you asking me out.” Lily said with a rye smile.  
  
            “Well, you know me I love tradition.” James said with a laugh. “Maybe, I’ll see you this summer Evans?”  
  
            “You live on the other end of the country, Potter.”  
  
            “See you around, Evans”, he said with a wink and then he stepped out of the compartment, sliding the door closed behind him, leaving Lily unsure of whether to feel happy, annoyed, or angry about Potter’s presumptions.


	2. Home Sweet Home

  
            James Potter was staring at the two-way mirror allowing him to communicate with his best friend, Sirius. He was extremely annoyed that his best friend could not stop laughing at him and his request for help.  
  
            “Let me get this strait, you want me to write ‘Dromeda and get her to give you Lily Evans address? What my dear Mr. Prongs could you want with this information? Are you going to stalk to lovely Evans in the muggle world as well now?”  
  
            “I do not stalk, Evans! And Mr. Padfoot I simply thought I might pay the lovely Evans a visit.”  
  
            “Did it ever occur to you Prongs that if Evans wanted you visiting her, she would have supplied you with her address herself?”  
  
            “Padfoot, are you going to write Andromeda or not?”  
  
            “And miss hearing how you explain to Evans why you are standing on her doorstep? Of course I’ll write to her Prongs.”  
  
            “Good, now I need you to help me figure out what the bloody hell I’m going to wear.”  
  
            “Oh no…Can’t you get your mum to help you? She’d love to get her Jamesie ready for his big date.”  
  
            “First of all, that’s the very reason I’m not asking, and secondly its muggle clothes, my mum knows nothing about muggle clothes.” The two continued their friendly banter until they arrived at the safe choice of a muggle t-shirt and jeans. After determining what James would wear on his surprise visit to Lily, Sirius went to send his letter to his cousin Andromeda, while James went to think over what he would say upon arriving at Evan’s house.  
  
   
  
            Lily Evans stormed upstairs to her room. She had only been home a week and already she was counting down the hours until she could be back at school. It wasn’t that she didn’t love being home with her parents, it was just she hated being home with Petunia. It broke her heart how close she and her sister had once been, before she had been accepted into Hogwarts. Then everything had changed.  
  
            Lily inhaled a deep calming breath, trying for her parents’ sake to not do or say anything she would regret. However, she could not block out the words she and her older sister had exchanged. It had all started when Lily arrived home. Petunia was two years older than Lily and was in her final year at school. As Lily found out as soon as she set foot in her home, Petunia had begun dating a boy at her school by the name of Vernon Dursley. Petunia then in painstaking detail had informed Lily that Vernon and his parents would be coming for dinner sometime in the following weeks and that Vernon had no idea about Lily’s abnormality and she would not allow him to be subjected to it. Lily had assumed as much and was so used to her sister’s harsh treatment of Lily’s being a witch that she was hardly surprised by Petunia’s feelings. It was soon decided that Vernon and his parents would come this evening. Lily shook with anger as she recollected the events of the past few hours.  
  
            Vernon and his parents had arrived promptly at 5 and Lily decided she did not like any of them at 5:05. Vernon, his parents, and his sister Marge were all exceedingly arrogant.  
  
            When Vernon first laid eyes on Lily his eyes had narrowed and he had said in a loud bark of a voice, “So, Petunia this is your sister? The one that goes to that school for people with special needs?”  Petunia gave him such a look of adoration that it made Lily feel as if she were ill.  
  
            “Yes, she really shouldn’t be allowed out but mother and father do miss her when she is gone.” Lily wondered what supposed condition she had been diagnosed with. Whatever it was none of the Dursleys seemed to desire any contact with it for none of them greeted Lily with so much as a nod of the head. The evening had gone down hill since from there, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley treated Lily’s parents with a cold indifference, only showing the slightest affection for Petunia. Vernon was exceedingly rude about everything. Yet, Petunia hung on every word he said and agreed steadfastly with all of it. However, the worst part of the evening came after the Dursleys had left. Lily’s parents had in no uncertain terms informed Petunia of their dislike of Vernon and his entire family. Petunia had raged at her parents and while Lily tried to ignore the argument the best she could from the kitchen where she was cleaning up, she could still here every word. Lily’s heart broke for her father as he tried to make his eldest daughter see reason, to no avail.  
  
            “Petunia, surely you can see that his whole outlook is negative.” Mr. Evans had said.  
  
            “Daddy, I don’t want to hear you say a word against him. He is more than accepting and so are his parents. I mean they’ve accepted me regardless of where I might come from.”  
  
            “Petunia Evans! I will not have you speak of your family in that ungrateful tone!”  
  
            “Family! What family? This _family_ has been ruined since the day you allowed _her_ to become a freak!” Petunia screamed at the top of her lungs. Lily closed her eyes to keep the tears from coming. She hated that who she was caused her sister so much pain.  
  
            “Petunia that is enough! Do not talk about your sister that way. I heard what you had told that Dursley. How could you say those things about your own sister?”  
  
            “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a sister.” She had then turned on her heels and marched into the kitchen and screamed at Lily, “You are dead to me! It’s your entire fault that mummy and daddy don’t like Vernon. You have ruined everything! I never want to see you again!”  
  
            “Shut up! Its not my fault your boyfriend is an egotistical prat!”  
  
            “How dare you! How dare you speak about Vernon like that!”  
  
            “How dare me, me? How dare you! How dare you speak to our parents like that! I don’t care what you think about me, but don’t you dare treat mummy and daddy like that!” Mr. Evans stood in the kitchen door watching as his two beloved daughters tore each other apart. He attempted to step in but neither seemed to be able to hear anything but the others biting remarks. It was only when his wife entered the kitchen and screamed at both girls that they fell silent.  
  
            “Both of you stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I’ve put up with this for five years and watched as you grew farther apart silently. I tried to convince myself that it was just normal for siblings your age to fight, but no more. I want you both in your rooms right now and I don’t want you to come back down until you are ready to get along.” As both her daughters stormed upstairs, she collapsed in grief, over the division in her family, into her husbands waiting arms.  
  
   
  
            When Lily awoke the next morning she was still seething with anger. She dressed silently in her room, hoping that neither her parents nor her sister would hear that she was awake. It was cold  outside so she dressed in a simple green sweater and a pair of jeans and pulled her hair back in a loose pony tail. She then grabbed her favorite muggle book “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen and preceded to sneak downstairs and out the front door. She settled on the porch with a blanket and sunk into her book. Ever since she had first read “Pride and Prejudice” it had been able to relax her and allow her to let go of any of her troubles. However she soon threw the book down as another wave of anger washed over her. This anger however was aimed entirely at her mind rather than at anything to do with her sister.  
  
            “Stop it,” she told herself, “Stop picturing Potter as Mr. Darcy!” When she read “Pride and Prejudice” she had always seen herself as Elizabeth, but Mr. Darcy had always been faceless. For him to now have the face of James Potter was exceedingly unsettling to Lily. “Potter is nothing like Darcy. Sure they are both arrogant and intelligent, but Darcy is sweet and romantic and, and a gentleman! Potter is no gentleman.” She was so lost in her thoughts that as she jumped off the porch to retrieve her book she almost thought she saw James Potter walking up her driveway. However, when the imaginary Potter spoke to her she realized that James Potter was in fact walking up her drive way.  
  
            “Potter?” She could not keep the surprise out of her voice.  
  
            “Evans.” He sounded confidant. It infuriated Lily.  
  
            “Potter, why are you here?” She demanded.  
  
            “I told you I’d see you around, Evans.”  
  
            “See me around? See you around means you casually bump into me at a mutual destination. See you around does not mean you come to my house!”  
  
            “Well I didn’t think there was much of a chance of just happening to run into you.”  
  
            “Exactly.” She noticed with satisfaction that he was shaking and she attributed it to her less than warm reception and his hitherto unseen nerves. However no more than a second after she had this satisfying realization, did she notice the real reason behind his shaking, Potter was only wearing a t-shirt. “Potter, where is your coat?”  
  
            “I didn’t wear one. It was just a little cool at home and I didn’t think about that you live farther up North.” Lily realized that as much as she loathed the idea she could not allow Potter to catch his death out in the freezing morning air, and she therefore must allow him to come in.  
  
            “Why don’t you come inside and warm up Potter.”  
  
            “Inviting me inside huh Evans? I knew you’d come to see me as irresistible.”  
  
            “Oh please, Potter. I would rather date the giant squid.” She turned on her heel and marched into her house with him following close behind her.


	3. A Day in the Muggle World

Three pairs of eyes fixed on Lily and then immediately shifted to the mysterious figure behind her when she appeared in the doorway of her home.  
  
            “Great!” she thought, “Why Couldn’t they all have been asleep?”  Lily must have been contemplating this longer than she had thought because the next thing she knew her mother was calling to her.  
  
            “Lily, Lily dear, are you going to introduce your friend?”  
  
            “Her _friend_? As if _she_ could have friends, besides freaks that is. This boy must just be looking for one of us. ” James immediately knew he did not like this girl, whoever she was. Lily blushed but otherwise showed no sign of having heard the other girl.  
  
            “Mummy, Daddy this is my…friend, James Potter,” then she paused and turned and looked directly at Petunia, “from school”. The effect was instantaneous Petunia’s mouth dropped in surprise and her mother and father both rose from their seats to welcome James and offer him some breakfast.  
  
            “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans No thank you, I don’t want to cause you any trouble.” Lily, for her part, was anxious to escape Petunia’s watchful glare even if it meant doing the unthinkable.  
  
            “Um…we’ll just be um upstairs if you need us.” With that she grabbed James’ arm and pulled him upstairs to her room.  As she closed the door behind her she found herself being pressed softly against the door, she had so recently closed. Potter was kissing her. While her brain screamed at her to push him away, she had to admit, little though she wanted to, that the soft, gentle way his lips brushed against hers was extremely satisfying. “No absolutely not!” She said to herself, “this is not just some stupid dream this is Potter, you are allowing to kiss you!” Regaining her senses she pushed Potter away from her.  
  
            “Potter! What the bloody hell do you think you were doing?”  
  
            “Kissing you, isn’t that what you wanted?”  
  
            “Why would you think that?”  
  
            “Evans you practically drug me up to your bedroom, why else would you be so desperate to get away from your family and be alone with me.”  
  
            “Potter if your ego would deflate itself for long enough to see reason, you would see that my coming up here had nothing to do with you. I was merely trying to get away from my sister.”  
  
            “Oh…sorry Evans, I guess I misread your intentions.”  
  
            “I guess it’s a mistake anyone could make, not anyone I know, but anyone, I guess.”  
  
            “So how come you and your sister don’t get along.”  
  
            “You would have to ask her that question.”  
  
            “I’m asking you, Evans.”  
  
            “You wouldn’t understand.”  
  
            “Try me.”  
  
            “I can’t. I’ve never been able to talk about it with anyone except… Just never mind, it’s not important.”  
  
            “Is it Snape? Is Snape the one you can talk to?” Lily had never heard such hate pronounced in a word as when Potter spoke of Sev.  
  
            “Why do you even care!?” Lily said exasperatedly.  
  
            “I care about _you_ , Evans.” He said fervently.  
  
            “I never asked you too.” It was then the door swung open and Lily turned to see her sister standing in her doorway.  
  
            “I’ve invited Vernon to spend the day. I would appreciate it if the house was freak free when he came. Of course mother and father will here nothing of the sort. Therefore, I have been sent to find out if the two freaks will be here the rest of the day until dinner or if you will both be leaving.” She left no doubt as she spoke which answer she thought to be the appropriate one. Lily was seething with anger and had no idea where to begin telling her older sister off when she heard James begin to speak. He was looking directly at Lily, the pain evident in his eyes.  
  
            “I guess I should go. I’m sorry I bothered you, Lily. It won’t happen again.” Petunia’s eyes began to gleam in the triumph of the moment, now if only she could get rid of her freak sister.  James had begun to move towards the door when Lily spoke.  
  
            “James,” he loved it when she said his name, “don’t be silly. Of course you’re staying for dinner.” He turned to look at her and made his heart light with happiness. She really wanted him to stay!  
  
            “Of course I’ll stay.” Petunia swept out of the room angrily slamming the door shut behind her.  
  
            “Thank you, I don’t deserve it.” Lily said sincerely. “I’m sorry for being so harsh before.” James was just beginning to reply when the last thing he would have expected happened. Lily began to cry.  
  
            “Um Lily?” He wasn’t sure whether or not she would permit him to touch her after his idiotic kiss, but he had to try. After all she seemed really upset. James took a step forward and pulled her into his arms. She did not protest, she merely continued to cry. After Lily had collected herself to some degree she and James sat down on her floor. She knew she could no longer avoid telling him some of the personal details of her life. After all he had offered to leave, she had asked him to stay.  
  
            “I’m sorry,” she said, “I can’t even imagine what you must think.”  
  
            “I don’t think anything. You’re still the same Evans I adore.”  
  
            “And you’re the same arrogant toadstool Potter.”  
  
            “So, Evans, why don’t you tell me what’s going on. Clearly things aren’t all wonderful on the Evans’ home front.”  
  
            “Nothing slips past you Potter, ever consider being an auror?” She replied sarcastically.  
  
            “The thoughts occurred to me. So lets here it Evans?”  
  
            “I don’t want all the marauders to hear about this, Potter. Or anyone else for that matter.”  
  
            “Lily, I wouldn’t tell anyone anything you told me.”  
  
            “Fine, well my sister, Petunia, hates me. I’m sure you gathered as much from what little you’ve seen of her. We used to be really close, but then I got my Hogwarts letter and everything changed. I think deep down she was jealous, but anyway she never forgave me for being different. My parents try and keep the peace. They love us both but I still can’t help but feeling like the odd man out. My parents think it’s the greatest thing that I’m a witch, but they still see me as a novelty, something to be admired, something to be watched over, not just a daughter. Petunia has never forgiven them for allowing me to go to Hogwarts; I guess she’s jealous of all the attention I get when I’m home. The truth is I’m jealous of her. She gets to be their daughter, they have fights but they’re too in awe to fight with me. So now, she’s met this utter pig Vernon Dursley and he’s absolutely horrible. My first impression upon meeting him and his family was that they were a muggle version of the Malfoys. My sister is determined that this boy is her one chance for salvation, she blames me that our parents don’t like him.”  
  
            “So that’s whose coming to dinner tonight, this Vernon git?”  
  
            “That’s right. That’s why I needed you to stay, I couldn’t deal with it by myself. Thank you again for staying.”  
  
            “I’ll always be here when you need me, Evans.”  
  
            “I can’t talk about this anymore. You’re my guest, so what would you like to do Potter?” James looked around the room and spotted a stack of things in the far corner that he had no idea what they were.  
  
            “What are those?” He said pointing to the stack of mysterious objects. She began laughing as soon as she realized what he was pointing at.  
  
            “Those? Those are muggle board games.” When he continued to look confused she continued, “You know, games children play?”  
  
            “Not really, could you teach me. I’m always up for something new.” She could not believe that James Potter was asking her to teach him to play children’s games.  
  
            “Oh alright, which one do you want to learn.”  
  
            “All of them lets start with the one on top.”  
  
            “Okay, well this one is called Memory. The object is to find the matching pairs of cards. If you find one you get to keep looking, if not then it’s the next person’s turn. The person who has the most pairs at the end wins. Do you understand?”  
  
            “Yeah, but why wouldn’t we just summon the card we need?”  
  
            “Muggles can’t just summon the card they need, Potter. And we’re not allowed to magic outside of school.”  
  
            “Oh that’s right you wouldn’t be would you?”  
  
            “What do you mean? You’re not allowed to do magic outside of school either.”  
  
            “In wizard families its up to the parents to keep their children from doing magic in the presence of muggles. The ministry can’t tell who is performing the magic, only where it is being performed.”  
  
            “Is that the way it is in all wizard families? I mean Severus has never mentioned…” His eyes had darkened at the mention of the name and she did not wish to make him angry again so she dropped the issue, “So are you ready to play?” Lily laid out all the cards and then instructed James to pick a card and try and find its match.  
  
            “What the bloody hell is this?”  
  
            “It’s a fire truck.”  
  
            “A fire what?”  
  
            “Truck, what the firemen use to get to a fire.”  
  
            “What are firemen?” He looked so bemused by the childlike drawing of the fire truck; Lily could not help but laugh. “Hey! What’s so funny?”  
  
            “I’m sorry Potter; I guess I just didn’t think about that you would have no idea what some of the muggle things were. Muggles aren’t able to put out fires by magic, so there’s muggles called firemen whose job it is to put out fires. The drive around on the fire trucks which have these big tubes called hoses on them and the pump water on to the fire.”  
  
            “The things muggles come up with to live without magic”. Lily had never had so much fun in her life. James questioned every picture on every card and was not satisfied until Lily had thoroughly explained what each item was.  
  
            “Are you hungry?” Lily asked.  
  
            “A little bit.”  
  
            “There’s a pizza place up the road. If you want we could walk up there and after we eat I could show you some of the sights of the muggle world.”  
  
            “That sounds great.”  
  
   
  
              
  
            “Okay what are these contraptions?” James had never had so much fun being confused in his life. Lily and he had gotten a slice of pizza before heading to a place Lily referred to as “the play ground”. He was now staring bewilderedly at something Lily referred to as swings.  
  
            “It’s something muggle kids play on, here I’ll show you.” She sat down on the swing and began to swing, low at first, and then higher and higher. James thought she looked beautiful swinging up there with her hair flying around her. “Come on, Potter are you scared?”  
  
            “Scared, Evans? You wish!” He jumped on the swing next to her and soon he was soaring right next to her in the sky.  Soon they were competing to see who could jump farther when dismounting the swings, laughing so hard they could barely stay balanced when they landed.  Lily was still laughing when she noticed the smile had been wiped of James’s face, he was staring over her shoulder at something. She turned around to see the angry face of her former best friend, Severus Snape, glaring past her at James.  
  
            “What is he doing here?” Severus spat out in anger.  
  
            “She could ask you the same question, Snape.” James never took his eyes of Severus as he spoke.  
  
            “I don’t remember asking you, Potter. You think you are so great, so perfect. Well you may be able to have every girl in the school fawn all over you, Potter. But you won’t get Lily. I won’t allow her to become one of your little fan girls.”  
  
            “You won’t allow me? _You_ won’t allow _me_. How dare you! How dare you think for one bloody moment that you have any power over me.” Lily screamed. James thought she looked beautiful when she was angry.  
  
            “Lily, please I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”  
  
            “I can take care of myself…Snivellus.” She ignored the hurt look on Snape’s face, he had chosen his path, and now she had chosen hers. “James please take me home.” She turned away from Severus and began to walk towards her house with James immediately falling into step beside her. They did not talk on the way back to Lily’s house, Lily was still fuming over what had just occurred, and James new better than to push his luck when she was angry.


End file.
